Remember
by Chizuru17
Summary: Sometimes, changing your life for the better has nothing to do with an opportunity or will-power. Sometimes, it has to do with sanity. A look at a 'what-if' scenario; if Zira had taken Kiara's paw at the end of TLK II.


**Remember**

_Sometimes, changing your life for the better has nothing to do with an oppurtunity or will-power. Sometimes, it has to do with sanity. A look at a 'what-if' scenario; if Zira had taken Kiara's paw at the end of TLK II._

* * *

Zira was sent flying, tumbling over the edge of the cliff. Her next movements were so quick, so fast, that she didn't realize that she had been screaming at the top of her lungs in horror. The lioness' injured and aching body hit something solid on her way down but unfortunately, she had missed her only sure chance of making it back alive. Zira scrambled to latch on to any part of the rock wall; her front claws desperately digging into it with all of her strength.

She dared not to stare down at the sharp drop below. Fear was the only thing keeping her body paralyzed enough to dangle in place. For one rare moment without the other knowing, the Queen of the Outlands and the Princess of the Pridelands shared the same thoughts and feelings of hopelessness. They both instinctively closed their eyes; scared for what might be the end of their lives.

"Hold on, Kiara!"

Nala's frantic attempt to soothe her daughter raised a growl to Zira's chest. That foolish, airheaded lioness, didn't she know that her words were worth nothing? What good would her screaming do? Her precious little girl was going to meet her watery demise. Zira noted that neither of her own worthless cubs had come to her rescue.

_Typical. _She had always known that she had to depend on herself to get the job done. All that mattered now was that she would once again be reunited with Scar. He was the only thing she had survived for all these years; as long as the loving memory of her beloved remained, she could make peace with her death.

Soon, a loud crack thundered throughout the gorge. The numerous logs that had made up the dam weakened and finally snapped; producing a humongous wave of water. Immediately, Zira found that the river had inundated most of the gorge, thrashing amongst the walls with an uncontained rage. Like the breakdown of the dam, Zira's nerves had an almost mercurial change and now; she felt her body and mind burn with an unsettling sense of panic. The adrenaline that had once given her almost god-like strength to hold on for so long was wearing off fast and she found that she was slipping.

"Zira, give me your paw!"

Kiara sat above her with sympathetic eyes, extending her own paw out to Zira. Zira snarled at her, swiping her paw away viciously. That stupid lioness, she took away everything from her! She would rather die a million deaths than accept help from that vapid idiot. Zira gasped out as she almost fell, her claws dulling down to the nubs. The river had gotten so close to her, its depths ready to reach out and swallow her whole. Zira's eyes sunk into her skull.

Was this it? Was this truly going to be the end of her life? This wasn't supposed to happen, today was supposed to be her day of salvation. She was supposed to paint the earth with the blood of Scar's murderers. Why did the Circle of Life always have to turn its back on her, where was her place in the sun, where was her justice and victory? Why? Why?

Zira kept her eyes fixated on the lioness above her as her mind went into a deep, chaotic whirl. Yet, Kiara continued to try and reach for her, disregarding any trouble that she might have put herself back into. The younger lioness looked worried, almost desperate for Zira's life.

"Zira, come on!" Kiara pleaded, "I'll help you."

_I'll help you. _

Those four words triggered an almost long forgotten memory that Zira had swept into the corners of her mind. The tone of the words was like a soft tune, sparking back familiar feelings of warmth and comfort. Yes, she had been in this exact situation once before, in her youth…

_She had been with the other cubs exploring the Elephant Graveyard. Though it was forbidden, it was their favorite hideout to play in due to it being so spooky and cool. Zira had challenged all of the cubs to a climbing challenge to see who could climb to the highest spot without getting scared. Zira had always been a tomboyish cub and she was planning to prove to the others that she could keep up, that she was better than them all. _

_ What she didn't expect, however, was for her victory to come with a price. _

_ "Help me!" Zira screamed as she struggled to keep from falling into an acid pit. The decaying elephant skull was slowly crumbling underneath her claws._

_ "Zira, just hang on!" small little Prince Taka squeaked. "It's going to be alright! Muffy and the others will be here soon. Here, hold on to my paw…I'll help you…"_

_ She never thought much of Taka before. He was always the small one, the runt of the group. He was too shy. She didn't think he could do anything. "T-Taka...Taka, I'm scared!" she whimpered, tears springing to her eyes. _

_ "I'm right here, Zira. I'm not going to let you fall, I promise." Taka told her soothingly, trying to smile bravely, still holding out his paw. "I know that you're scared but you can trust me. Just hold on, okay?" _

_ The frightened cub held out her paw to the male cub in front of her. In an instant, a secure feeling of being safe, much like the warm feeling of her own mother tingled throughout her body. She smiled back at Taka and knew from then on, she would be okay…_

Maybe that was the reason that she extended her own paw to Kiara. Maybe she was more willing to save her own life that she thought. Zira didn't know. But the security, the same trusting feelings that she had felt such a long time ago had materialized into the younger lioness' own body.

Zira took that fleeting moment to grasp it as much as she could before it faded away. It took only a little struggle for Zira to climb back to the stable surface of the rock and back to relative safety.

The warmth that Zira had felt was soon snatched away from her, however, as Kiara drew back. It shattered the deliriously happy illusion that Zira was having of being beside her beloved Scar and had stolen what little recreation she had left. The older lioness now had to face the harsh reality that was her bitter life once again, that Scar was never going to return. Zira sat with her back away from Kiara, watching the river's flow ebb, overcome with numbness.

Kiara cleared her voice softly, "Um, Zira...I'm glad you're okay."

"_Shut up!" _Zira whirled on her with such anger that the Princess flinched. "Who's okay? You, you worthless, spineless, spiteful Pridelander saved me! You've stolen everything from me! Don't you know I'd rather died but even that wasn't enough for you! I hate you! I hate everything!"—the skeletal lioness bared her fangs in a ferocious sneer. She still had time to end Simba and turn this failure around—"Get out of my way!"

The crème colored lioness didn't not budge. Kiara stood in between Zira and the ledge to her freedom. "No, I'm not gonna let you," Kiara shot back, standing in determination.

"I said move!" Zira roared. The gall of this imbecile! She was a disgrace to every lioness everywhere, with her soft, untrained body and her sweet demeanor. It was disgusting that this so-called princess was even considered to be next in line for the throne; she had never seen a hard day in her life. Her weakness would get her killed and Zira was going to make sure of that.

"Too bad for you, I've never listened to a word anyone has ever told me." Kiara joked despite herself, keeping her eyes locked with Zira steadfastly. "So I'm definitely not going to start now. It's my turn to help my pride; I can't let you hurt them."

Zira's frustration finally boiled over and she let out another threatening roar directed at the Princess. She wanted to tear through her pretty little face so badly but realized that she was in a losing battle, if she tried any sort of movement, they would fall right back off the cliff. Kiara let out a soft sigh.

"You know something; you're nothing like what I thought you would be." Kiara told her thoughtfully, carefully. "From everything my dad told me, I would have sworn you would be like some sort of monster with glowing eyes and fire breath….but now that we're here, you don't look like that at all, you almost look sad…"

Zira scoffed half-incredulously, half-mockingly, "I really must have become pathetic if I'm getting sympathy from the likes of you."

"I'm not pitying you at all," Kiara shook her head. "I think that you're really strong, going through everything you did…raising three cubs…losing Scar…training a whole pride on your own, that's pretty amazing. I know I could never do it, I'm too flighty. I like my freedom."

The older lioness narrowed her eyes. Was this some sort of trick? How could she even claim that she was strong? She had failed Scar, after all of these long hard years; she still couldn't complete even the most basic part of her revenge. History only remembered those who won battles, not the ones who lost. Zira knew there was nothing strong about her.

"It got me thinking, you remember when I said that we were all one?" Kiara asked with a small smile. When Zira didn't respond, she continued. "I really meant for you to hear it. We are so similar it isn't even funny, I think I could have been just like you."

"You wench!" Zira screamed at her, "You know nothing about me! My life has never been close to the lies that your father has been feeding you! You don't know what it's like to have to carve out a life out of suffering or to relive the nightmares of seeing your beloved's half-eaten body!"

Angry tears stung at her eyes as she forced herself to tell her story, to go back to the terror that was her life, the things that she wanted to keep hidden. "I have been exiled-"

_Zira! You treacherous piece of dirt! How dare you turn your back on me?! _

_ I haven't, mom! I love him! I can't give him up! _

_ He's driving our pride apart! Because of him, everyone is dying! _

_ No! He's not like that! I promise I'll talk to him! I'll make him do better! Just don't stop being my mother! _

_ Enough! I've had enough of you and your poisonous lies! _

_ Mom…mom, you're hurting me! Stop! Stop! _

"Left alone with no defense—"

_Please! Nala, Sarabi! Let me come back to the Pride Lands, just once! My cubs need help, they're dying! There's nothing in the outlands…I can't feed them…please…_

_ Zira, we can't let you do that. You know the penalty for returning to the Pride Lands…just let it go, Scar's gone. You can still make things right with Simba, just apologize. _

_ Apologize? He murdered my mate in cold blood! How can you make me forget that?! _

_ He murdered Mufasa! Do you expect Simba to forget that, Zira?! Simba was right to take that tyrant out! _

_ Then you are all more like Scar than you will ever know! But don't take it out on our cubs; they had nothing to do with this! Let us through, please! They're the innocent ones in all of this! They're innocent!_

Zira snarled darkly, cutting off the rest of her rant to Kiara. She couldn't ever understand what it was like to have the world against her. It hadn't been long after her first visit to the Pride Lands that she had slowly plotted her revenge against Simba and his pride. At first, it was only to protect her cubs but the hatred growing inside of her consumed her like a cancer. Battles and blood had been the only thing that gave her a thrill in her empty life any more. It was the only thing that help tie her to the day her beloved died, back to when she was truly happy. Her cubs were just a tool to that end. She still felt bad for their poor Nuka; he had felt the brunt of her hatred and shortcomings, if only she had more time with him.

"You're right, Zira. I don't know what it's like to be you," Kiara replied sympathetically, lowering her ears. "But I know what it's like to love someone that nobody else hates. I know what it's like for your family to not see the good in them, to see how gentle, how loving they could be." She let out a shuttering, sad laugh with tears in her own eyes, "After Kovu's exile, I almost ran away with him…I didn't need anyone else, as long as we were happy together..so you see, we are alike."

Zira's eyes widened a little in surprise. Perhaps the Princess had been like her, if she had killed Kovu, then maybe her life would be the same. The realization sent a shiver down her spine. The same cycle she was trying to fight against had broken her and turned her into the very person that she hated. It was frightening to almost see an almost mirror image of her past self and to see how much she had fallen. But she wasn't ready to forgive or forget. No, the pain was still too raw.

"Let's go home, Zira." Kiara said with a kind smile. "The Pride Lands are just as much yours as it is mine or my father's. You must be so tired of fighting on your own; you can start things all over again with a clean slate. I'm sure that Kovu and Vitani would love for you to be with them."

A clean slate. Change. As if the darkness of her heart could be cured by some empty words. Throughout the whirlwind that had personified her life, Zira had tried to find some stability. She had felt comfortable in her anger and hatred, it had given her a purpose in life so that her thoughts wouldn't fly apart. Now, there was a seed of doubt. Could she drop everything and start over again? Could she bury the ghosts of her past?

"I'm not sure that I can," Zira admitted quietly. "There's too much damage that has been done, I can't let it go. There's no place for me anymore."

"I'll make a place. We'll do it together," Kiara told her fervently, sincerely. "If anyone has any problems, I'll make them understand. Sure, it won't be easy but we'll take things one step at a time and I promise that I won't let you fall. Our pride can't heal without the most important part of its past. Please, Zira, let's start things over again."

The old Zira would have swiped at the Princess' face and threatened to tear out her throat with her teeth. But now, there was a setting calmness in Zira's heart that hadn't been there before. It was like the warmth of her Taka, her Scar, pushing her to for once, to choose a path with an unwavering hope of the future. It was daunting and probably suicidal for sure, but if her beloved Scar wanted her to move on, she would do it with god speed.

After all, nothing suited her better than fighting against the odds that life threw at her like a mad lioness. Zira wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

* * *

_Just a fun little one-shot I did on the fly. Zira's always been an interesting character to me, since we know nothing of her past or what drove her to her craziness outside of Scar's death and sometimes that is all it takes. Despite the 'happy' ending I gave, I think that Zira would still struggle with her problems. I could see her transfering her feelings of Scar onto someone else and possibly going into the same pattern of co-dependancy. Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't and all that jazz :-P. _

_So, like it? Hate it? Delete it? Let me know what you think. Chizy out~_


End file.
